Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Over The Rainbow You will receive an email shortly to confirm your email address. Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Over The Rainbow title details and video sharing options now playing Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Over The Rainbow Still in the not-color opening in Kansas, worried Dorothy (Judy Garland) expresses Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg's famous song, in The Wizard Of Oz, 1939. View the TCMDb entry for The Wizard of Oz (1939) share video Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Over The... Still in the not-color opening in Kansas, worried Dorothy... Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip)... Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Over The Rainbow Still in the not-color opening in Kansas, worried Dorothy (Judy Garland) expresses Harold Arlen and E.Y.

Harburg's famous song, in The Wizard Of Oz, 1939.> Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (1949 Re-issue... Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (1949 Re-issue Trailer) Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (1949... Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (1949 Re-issue Trailer) A Kansas farm girl dreams herself into a magical land where she must fight a wicked witch to escape in The Wizard of Oz (1939), starring Judy Garland.> Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Bang On... Dorothy (Judy Garland) and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger)... Dorothy (Judy Garland) and the Scarecrow...

Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Bang On My Chest Dorothy (Judy Garland) and the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) discover the Tin Man (Jack Haley) during an apple fight with the talking trees, in MGM's The Wizard Of Oz, 1939.> Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip)... Dorothy (Judy Garland) and Toto arrive at the farmhouse just... Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip)... Wizard of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) We're Not In Kansas Anymore Dorothy (Judy Garland) and Toto arrive at the farmhouse just as the cyclone is approaching, Victor Fleming directing and A. Arnold Gillespie's special effects transporting them, in The Wizard Of Oz, 1939.> Houston Post Contest Winners - (A Short Subject) Houston Post Contest Winners Contest winners tour MGM studios and...

Houston Post Contest Winners - (A Short Subject) In late 1938, contest winners tour MGM studios and visit the set of The Wizard Of Oz including Buddy Ebsen, then cast as the Tin Man.> Wizard Of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) If I Only... Just begun following the yellow brick road, Dorothy (Judy... Wizard Of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip)... Wizard Of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) If I Only Had A Brain Just begun following the yellow brick road, Dorothy (Judy Garland) meets the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) who has Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg's If I Only Had A Brain all ready, in The Wizard Of Oz, 1939.> A. Arnold Gillespie -- (Movie Promo) Friday Night... Promo for TCM's Friday Night Spotlight for April, 2015,... A. Arnold Gillespie -- (Movie Promo)... A.

Arnold Gillespie -- (Movie Promo) Friday Night Spotlight Promo for TCM's Friday Night Spotlight for April, 2015, Academy Award winners Ben Burtt and Craig Barron join Ben Mankiewicz for a salute to special effects wizard A. Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie, every Friday at 8pm ET starting April 3rd.> Wizard Of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) I'd... As chilling as any sequence, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and... Wizard Of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip)... Wizard Of Oz, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) I'd Turn Back If I Were You! As chilling as any sequence, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Lion (Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr), sent to the retrieve the Wicked Witchs broomstick, run into trouble as she (Margaret Hamilton) looses the flying monkeys, in MGMs The Wizard Of Oz, 1939.

> 23 Surprising Facts About ‘The Wizard of Oz’ That Will Blow Your Mind | Thought Catalog 23 Surprising Facts About ‘The Wizard of Oz’ That Will Blow Your Mind Submit Cancel The Wizard of Oz has one of the wildest and most infamous productions of any movie ever filmed. Did you know that half of the cast was either injured or nearly died during production, and one potential cast member did — before she was signed onto the film? Here are just 23 of the many, many weird little-known (and well-known) facts about everything that went wrong to give us a movie that was so right. 1. According to studio publicity, Dorothy Gulch was twelve-years-old, four years younger than the actress who played her, Judy Garland, even though author L. Frank Baum never gave her an actual age. To fit the character’s tween body, Garland had to wear a constricting corset to flatten her chest, a painful one that made it hard to breathe during filming.

In an earlier adaptation of the film, Dorothy rang in her 18th birthday, just old enough to smoke, and the character would later be played by the 24-year-old Diana Ross and the 10-year-old Fairuza Balk. 2. Although Garland was always a favorite by the studio for the part, she was hardly the only actress considered. Shirley Temple was a better fit in terms of age and a much bigger star than Garland was at the time, but producers felt that she couldn’t carry the film vocally, as her singing voice left something to be desired. The other problem was that Temple was contracted to 20th Century Fox, and only would have been able to appear in the movie were she with MGM. The studio planned on trading her for Clark Gable and Jean Harlow — but the deal got nixed when Harlow unexpectedly died of liver failure at 26. Recent reports suggest that the toxicity of Harlow’s hair dye may have been partly to blame for her untimely death. 3. The film’s original director, Richard Thorpe, conceived an entirely different look for the film — in the whole two weeks he helmed the film.

Thorpe’s footage shows Dorothy with more of a chic blonde hairstyle, described as “tousled,” and covered in babydoll makeup — like in John R. Neill’s original drawings for the books. In Thorpe’s version, Buddy Ebsen played the Tin Man, but Ebsen had to drop out because he was allergic to the silver powder in the Tin Man’s makeup, which Ebsen claimed “coated [his] lungs like paint.” After being sent to the hospital for two weeks due to respiratory problems (with six additional weeks to recuperate), Ebsen had been replaced. Jack Haley was now in the tin suit. Interestingly, Haley’s son would marry Liza Minnelli in the 70s. 4. Haley didn’t have a much easier time with his costume. In addition to getting an eye infection from the makeup, the get up for the Tin Man was incredibly stiff, in order to resemble tin. If Haley wanted to take a rest in the costume, he had to lean against something instead of sitting down. He could have just napped on the ground, but he wouldn’t have been able to get up. 5.

After Thorpe was jettisoned, George Cukor was brought in as a temporary director while the studio could find a permanent replacement for Thorpe. Cukor, a director known for working well with women (read: big homosexual), threw out the blonde wig, giving Dorothy a more “natural” look. He wanted her down-to-earth radiance to be a counterpoint to the fantasy of Oz, giving the audience an emotional anchor to carry them through the film. But Cukor had no interest in directing the movie long-term. He was holding out for Gone with the Wind, which ended up being directed by Victor Fleming, the eventual director of Oz. (Oops.) Cukor did, however, work with Garland again in A Star is Born, the movie that got the actress her Oscar nod. 6. All in all, five different directors were brought on board to the film — with 14 different writers tasked to bring the book to life. At one point, poet Odgen Nash had written a screenplay for the film. 7. Because of the number of director changes and redesigns to the film, the film ended up experiencing a number of delays in the production and far, far overshot its intended budget.

Although The Wizard of Oz has rumored to have been a flop upon release (like Bringing Up Baby), that’s not exactly true. The movie made $3 million at the time, a slim $300,000 over its budget, the highest ever for its studio. However, The Wizard of Oz ended up being the third biggest hit of the decade, behind Gone With the Wind and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, grossing $16 million in total. This is still pennies compared to Gone with the Wind, which would have made the equivalent of $1.6 billion today, just in the U.S. alone. Eat that, James Cameron. 8. A number of changes were made from the novel. In the book, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South, not the North, and Oz is a real place, not just Dorothy working out her Freudian issues in her dreams. L. Frank Baum also gave Dorothy silver slippers instead of ruby ones, but MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer decided to make them brighter to get the most out of the new Technicolor technology.

White was also difficult to shoot in technicolor, so Dorothy’s shirt was actually a light shade of pink to make it more filmable. 9. The Emerald City wasn’t exactly emerald in the novel. In the original text, the characters are required to wear glasses that make everything appear green even though the city is “no more green than any other city.” The green is a deception, like the wizard’s many other tricks, referred to as “humbugs” in the novel. The city’s conception is said to be inspired by the famous White City at the Chicago World’s Fair. 10. In the novel, the Wicked Witch has a much smaller role, but her part was greatly pumped up in the movie in order to give the film more of a dramatic arc, whereas Baum’s narrative was episodic. Originally the character was going to be beautiful (or “sleek and sexy”), but producers nixed that, as it clashes with idea of “evil” witches being ugly. The original choice, the gorgeous Gale Sondergaard, immediately dropped out when she saw herself uglied up, and Margaret Hamilton took the role instead. She was so good at being ugly that much of Hamilton’s screen time ended up being cut.

Hamilton and the execs through the character was too scary for young audiences, and despite the movie’s cult popularity, Hamilton refused to do a sequel for that very reason. 11. Despite refusing a sequel, Margaret Hamilton was in love with her part, a lifelong fan of the books on which the film was based. When her agent told her she was up for the movie, Hamilton wanted to know which part she might have the chance to play. The agent scoffed, “The wicked witch, what else?” Hamilton grew so attached that when Frank Morgan, who played the Wizard, gave Dorothy’s friends their famous gifts out of his special bag, the actress began to cry. She was close with Morgan and knew that’s just the kind of person he was all the time, kind and generous. According to Hamilton’s son, the actress loved to use the “I’ll get you my pretty line” off set. 12. The Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and Tin Man, like the Wicked Witch, also had a problem of scaring people with their costumes. Their getups were considered so frightening that Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley were banned from the MGM lunch room, not allowed to eat with the rest of the cast.

They were forced to lunch in their dressing rooms, in case they alarmed other MGM workers. 13. The Wizard of Oz makes Dorothy into an innocent damsel in distress, who gets in over her head in Oz in order to learn a lesson about family, one that convinces her to go back home. However, the books paint Oz as a credible refuge for Dorothy and make Dorothy into a much stronger character. Instead of constantly being saved by those around her, Dorothy does the rescuing. A feminist himself, Baum wanted Dorothy to come across as a strong heroine for his young female audience. 14. The Wizard of Oz is notable for the wild number of mistakes in the movie. For instance, you can see Dorothy’s hair consistently change lengths throughout the movie. Because of the excessive lighting necessary to shoot in Technicolor — which made the set upwards of 100 degrees — the studio lights often reflect in shiny surfaces throughout the film, like glass or the Emerald City floor. Props also change or disappear, like the bouquet from the Munchkins that vanishes into thin air or when the Tin Man’s spear magically turns into an ax. The film also carries one giant gap of logic: You’re a witch. Water kills you.

Why then would you choose to live somewhere surrounded by a moat and have buckets of water laying around? 14. Depending on who you ask, there’s a scene where either a Munchkin or a disgruntled crew member is hanging himself in the background in the trees. However, none of these are the case. At the time of filming, MGM rented somewhere around 400 birds from the local zoo to use in their films, but many of the birds had escaped their cages. A number of them ended up on set, including a large crane that you can see stretching out its wings in the background. However, the Munchkins were paid only $50 per week, $75 less than Toto, so they would have had a reason to be upset. (Toto also made more per week than most Americans did in the 1930s.) Hollywood later made it up to the Munchkins, when they were awarded stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 15. Judy Garland grew so attached to Terry, the animal actor that played the role of Toto, during filming and begged his owners to let her adopt the dog. This was for a couple reasons. First, they obviously liked the dog.

Second, they were likely anxious to have her back after the dog almost died on set — one of the witch’s guards accidentally stepped on her. Terry’s leg was broken and had to be replaced with a dog double while she healed. Terry’s earliest screen role was in a Shirley Temple movie, as “Terry,” but after Wizard of Oz, her owners changed her name to “Toto” because of the character’s iconic status. Toto later appeared in George Cukor’s The Women and Tortilla Flat, which was directed by Victor Fleming and starred Frank Morgan, who played the Wizard. Terry/Toto died in 1945 of old age, laid to rest in her trainer’s backyard. 16. Margaret Hamilton was nearly burned to death on set. The actress was sent to the hospital after being severely burned a explosion that misfired. Hamilton was intended to vanish in a giant puff of smoke, but her trapdoor misfired. In another take, Hamilton is supposed to get burned by Dorothy’s ruby red slippers when the Witch attempts to remove them from her feet, but the sparks were simulated by squirting out apple juice instead.

To make the juice appear more flame-like, the production team merely sped up the film. In another scene, Hamilton asked to use a stand-in to fly on a broom for her, as smoke billowed out of it. The stand-in was badly injured. 17. In addition to Hamilton’s near death, the actors who played the flying monkeys were all badly injured during the “Haunted Forest” scene. The string that held them aloft snapped and the monkeys fell to the ground. This is what happens when trust piano wire to hold up a human person. Luckily it wasn’t that far to the floor of the sound stage and no one died. 18. “Heavens to Murgatroyd!” became associated with Snagglepuss, the cartoon cat created by Hanna Barbera in the late 1950s. The phrase is associated with Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion, and it made its way into film in the 1944 movie, Meet the People. Snagglepuss popularized it, and his voice was even based on Lahr’s.

If you’re confused as to what a “Murgatroyd” is in the first place, it’s an old English surname — and also sounds like robot language. 19. Many iconic scenes were nearly cut from the movie because the original running time was way too long. At a hefty 120 minutes, producers realized that the film needed 20 minutes axed to get down to a reasonable duration, and Meryvn LeRoy chopped off the “Over the Rainbow” number. The producers thought it made the scenes in Kansas dragged and that its young audience wouldn’t understand the message of the song. They were also apprehensive about letting Garland sing in a barnyard, calling it “degrading.” However, they split the difference, cutting a reprise of the song instead, when Dorothy is imprisoned in the Wicked Witch’s lair. When Garland sang that version, both she and the rest of the cast began to weep, because the tune and scene were so depressing. 20. It’s long been rumored that Judy Garland began her problems with substance abuse on the set of The Wizard of Oz, because of the tumultuous production and publicity about her drinking problems.

However, unlike Drew Barrymore, who started from a very young age, Garland’s drinking and addictions didn’t become a “problem” for the studio until the 40s, when she had a nervous breakdown while filming The Pirate. Garland was sent to a sanitarium. Because of her numerous suicide attempts, Garland was stated to have a borderline personality disorder. 21. Garland had a difficult time with the scene where she has to slap the Cowardly Lion, as she kept laughing. To help get her into the scene, Victor Fleming dragged her aside and smacked her across the face. Garland quit giggling. She came back and nailed the scene in her first attempt. 22. This one sounds like crap, but it’s true. The costume designers’ working on Professor Marvel’s look wanted a fashionable looking coat that had become worn over time, vintage but slightly ratty. To get the coat exactly right, the crew selected a plethora from a local thrift store until everyone found one they agreed was perfect. It fit Frank Morgan — who played both the Wizard and his Kansas doppleganger, Marvel — perfectly. One day on set, Morgan found a small label inside the jacket that had the name L.

Frank Baum etched into it. The coat had been fitted and tailored for Baum, then living in Chicago. The producers gifted it to the author’s widow after the production concluded. 23. By far, the most famous piece of trivia about the movie has nothing to do with the movie itself but Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, which matches up nearly perfectly with the film (despite different in lengths). To sync up the two, you want to start the album when the MGM lion roars. (I suggest the third roar.) Called “The Dark Side of the Rainbow,” the correlation received major press coverage in the mid-90s, but Pink Floyd have long denied that the mashup was intentional, (and they are likely telling the truth, as it would have been much more difficult to pull off before the invention of the VCR). Some Pink Floyd members have gotten angry about the audience’s insistence on correlation. But Nick Mason, the band’s drummer, was a good sport, joking to MTV: “It’s absolute nonsense. It has nothing to do with The Wizard of Oz.

It was all based on The Sound of Music.” 'The Wizard of Oz' Turns 75: A Look Back at a Film Classic | The Huffington Post 'The Wizard of Oz' Turns 75: A Look Back at a Film Classic 11/12/2013 12:04 pm ET | Updated Jan 23, 2014 140 William Stillman Author The celebration for next year's 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz is already underway. And to quote the Mayor of Munchkinland, "Let the joyous news be spread!" Many baby boomers still cherish the memories of settling in with the family to watch the annual TV showing of 1939's The Wizard of Oz. The thought of it calls to mind Judy Garland singing "Over the Rainbow," or the blubbering, comical Cowardly Lion. And who could forget those cringe-worthy Winged Monkeys, minions of the green-faced, cackling Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz has been with us for so long that it's easy to take it for granted.

Everyone can quote lines from it ("I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!"), and its familiarity makes for playful parody in editorial cartoons and on sitcoms. On the occasion of The Wizard of Oz anniversary, here is a brief look back at how this film beat the odds to become an all-time classic. When Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs grossed $3.5 million by early 1938, Hollywood took notice and suddenly fantasy films had box office potential. Producer Samuel Goldwyn put the movie rights to L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz up for sale, and M-G-M quickly outbid several other studios. But there was a collective outcry when it was announced that the movie version of The Wizard of Oz wouldn't be a cartoon but would be made with live actors. Compounding things, Judy Garland was an unpopular choice to play Dorothy. Garland was thought to be too "brash" for preferring swing music, her era's version of rock and roll. At first a blond wig and heavy makeup was tried before changing Dorothy's look to a simpler appearance.

In the end, Garland totally embodied the character with tremendous sincerity, and her Dorothy continues to endear herself to viewers of all ages. Casting the rest of the picture proved challenging. Several Hollywood reporters announced that Ray Bolger would be the Scarecrow. Then Bolger was designated for the Tin Man part before finally switching to the Scarecrow, the part he ended up playing in the movie. Buddy Ebsen, best remembered as Jed Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies, would test for the Scarecrow part before accepting the role of the Tin Man. But after Ebsen succumbed to a severe reaction from his aluminum makeup, entertainer Jack Haley stepped in and gave the Tin Man a wonderful sense of romantic yearning. Comedian Bert Lahr filled the role of the Cowardly Lion so brilliantly that he became typecast. All three actors endured painstaking makeup applications and burdensome costuming (continuity was affected every time Bolger moved as his loose straw had to look the same in each shot). Toto, Dorothy's dog, was a female Cairn terrier named Terry who worked in movies before The Wizard of Oz with Shirley Temple and Spencer Tracy.

After The Wizard of Oz, Terry's name became Toto permanently, and she can be seen in 1940s pictures such as Back from the Front with The Three Stooges. Margaret Hamilton's name will forever be synonymous with that of the Wicked Witch of the West. In the original book, the Witch doesn't have green skin or a flying broom. But M-G-M seriously amped up the fear factor with the Witch's look and delivery, and a number of Hamilton's threats against Dorothy were cut out of the film. W.C. Fields came close to playing the Wizard of Oz, and had already begun making notes in the script for various jokes. But after Fields declined the role, Frank Morgan was cast. Using various wigs and makeups, Morgan also played Professor Marvel, the Emerald City gatekeeper, cabby, and throne room sentry, and he was the voice of the Wizard of Oz's mutant head. Aunt Em was Clara Blandick, who had played Tom Sawyer's Aunt Polly on film, and Uncle Henry was character actor Charley Grapewin who had played a part in a stage production of The Wizard of Oz roughly 20-odd years prior.

The dancing and singing Munchkins were represented by over 120 midgets augmented with about a dozen little girls. Overseeing them was beautiful Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch, who was 54 at the time! The Wizard of Oz was a popular hit in 1939 but more than half its audiences were children who usually paid a dime to get in. At a cost of $3 million, the movie didn't make a profit until a rerelease 10 years later. But when it began playing on TV in 1956, it became more special than ever because it was right there with us in our own home, in our very living room. And, to quote Dorothy, "There's no place like home!" Wizard of Oz The Movie - Cast - OzWiki The Movie - Cast How many actors, overall, appeared in The Movie?

There's no exact number available, but this is a reasonable breakdown based on what's currently known: Principals (the ones actually listed in the credits): 10 (and the little dog, too!) Munchkins (124 little people and about 8 children in the background): 132 Winged Monkeys (as best as can be made out, there are about a dozen): 12 Winkie Guards (around 16 or 20): 18 Emerald Citizens (between 300 and 350): 325 This makes for a grand total of 497, so it's probably safe to say "around 500." Who played who in The Movie? Here's the official cast list, as shown in The Movie's closing credits: Dorothy — Judy Garland Nikko (see the question Who is Nikko? below) — Pat Walshe Auntie Em — Clara Blandick Toto — Toto The Munchkins — The Singer Midgets Not all of the Munchkins came from Leo Singer's vaudeville troupe, however.

For some of them it was their first show biz job, for some it was their only show biz job, and a few came from Europe and didn't even speak English. Other cast notes: Some of the Munchkin voices, and the voices of the two apple trees, were provided by Pinto Colvig, better known as the original voice of Goofy, as well as Sleepy and Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; and the "Voice of Snow White," as it's called in the script, in "If I Only Had a Heart" ("Wherefore art thou, Romeo?") really was the voice of Snow White from the Disney movie, Adriana Caselotti. The Winged Monkeys were little people who did stuntwork, and some also played Munchkins. MGM contract player Mitchell Lewis played the captain of the Winkie Guards, probably best known for the line, "She — she's dead! You killed her!" Which characters in Kansas became which characters in Oz? To make the dream motif more believable, characters from Dorothy's real life in Kansas became fantasy characters in Oz, an idea possibly borrowed from the 1925 film version.

For some reason, they were listed in the credits by their Kansas names, even though their Oz parts were much larger and more memorable. So, to help those who may be a bit confused: Hunk became the Scarecrow Professor Marvel became the Wizard (and a few others — see the question How many parts did Frank Morgan play? ) in Oz Aunt Em and Uncle Henry had no equivalent characters in Oz, and Glinda is the only major character in Oz without a Kansas counterpart. Did any of the actors use stage names, and what are their real names? As it turns out, most of the major actors in The Movie did not use the same names with which they were born. Judy Garland's original name was Frances Gumm, Frank Morgan was born Francis Wupperman, and Bert Lahr's was Irving Lahrheim. Jack Haley's real first name was John (Jack being a nickname, of course), and Clara Blandick's real name was Clara Dickey. Billie Burke used her real name — sort of. Her full name was Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke, and the Billie would have been a variant of Billy, the diminutive of her second name.

She was also named for her father, Billy Burke, a well-known clown for Barnum and Bailey. Ray Bolger used his real name, but some sources incorrectly give his birth name as Raymond Wallace Bulcao. Toto's real name was Terry, but her name was changed to Toto after making The Movie. Several of the actors playing Munchkins also used professional names different than their birth names. Who were the stand-ins and stunt doubles? Judy Garland's on-camera double was Bobbie Koshay, but Caren Marsh-Doll also helped out with blocking and camera tests. Stafford Campbell doubled for Ray Bolger, Harry Masters for Jack Haley, Jim Fawcett and Pat Moran both stood in for Bert Lahr, Betty Danko was Margaret Hamilton's main stunt double (Eileen Goodwin finished the broom flying when an accident put Danko in the hospital), Paul Adams was Frank Morgan's double, and Freddie Retter stood in for Pat Walshe. Are any cast members still alive? Time has taken its toll on The Movie's cast, and none of the principal players are with us any more.

Frank Morgan died in 1949, Bert Lahr in 1967, Judy Garland in 1969, Billie Burke in 1970, Jack Haley in 1979, Margaret Hamilton in 1985, and Ray Bolger in 1987. The only cast member known to still be alive is Jerry Maren, who played the middle member of the Lollipop Guild in Munchkinland. Some of the young girls who played Munchkins are also still alive, as is Judy Garland double Caren Marsh-Doll (who did not actually appear onscreen). Wasn't Shirley Temple originally cast to play Dorothy? Not really. From the beginning, The Movie was meant by LeRoy and Freed to be a vehicle for Judy Garland. Garland had been on contract at MGM for about four years, and the movie-going public was beginning to take notice. She'd already had success in some second-string MGM pictures, and The Movie seemed an ideal vehicle to show off her talent and really launch her into stardom.

However, the New York-based executives of MGM's parent company, Loews, realizing the scope and expense The Movie would require, got nervous about a relative unknown carrying such a big picture, and wanted a proven big name star to ensure box office success. So 20th Century Fox was approached — after The Movie and Garland's casting had already been announced to the press — about loaning Temple to MGM for The Movie. (One story claims that MGM offered to loan Jean Harlow and Clark Gable to Fox for the filming of In Old Chicago as compensation, but this is probably not true, as Harlow died in 1937, before work ever began on The Movie.) Fox didn't want to loan the biggest box-office attraction in America out to anyone, however, and LeRoy and Freed were not impressed with her abilities. There are some stories that MGM also tried to borrow child stars Deanna Durbin from Universal and Bonita Granville from Warner Bros., but if true, the studios turned MGM down, and so the executives settled for Garland.

But the earliest press releases, when the project was first announced, all list Garland in the cast, so there is no truth to the notion that she was the studio's second choice, winning the part by default. It also appears that some of the talk of Temple as Dorothy was wishful thinking on the part of some Hollywood columnists. Fox would later feature Temple in their own big-budget Technicolor fantasy, The Blue Bird, in answer to similar projects from the other studios, but it didn't do nearly as well as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or The Movie. Is it true Buddy Ebsen was originally cast to play the Tin Woodman? Not exactly. While Ebsen, later known for his television roles as Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies and the title role in Barnaby Jones, was originally cast in The Movie, it was as the Scarecrow. Ray Bolger was cast as the Tin Woodman, as the Scarecrow was the bigger part and Ebsen the bigger star. But Bolger protested, as he felt his fluid style of dancing was better suited to the Scarecrow. LeRoy agreed, and switched Ebsen and Bolger's roles.

After two weeks filming, however, Ebsen found that he suddenly couldn't breathe one night, and was rushed to a hospital and put in an iron lung. He had developed a reaction to the aluminum dust used to tint his face silver. (At the time, aluminum dust was erroneously thought to be safe to breathe.) As all of the footage shot to that point was later abandoned anyway (see the question Who was the director? for further explanation), it meant the part of the Tin Woodman could be recast without affecting the film. Ebsen doesn't appear in the finished film, but his voice can still be heard in some of the ensemble songs. MGM borrowed Jack Haley from 20th Century Fox to play the Tin Woodman, and the make-up was reformulated into a paste. Haley didn't get away unscathed, however. He developed an eye infection from the make-up, and he was off the set for a few days while he recuperated. What other actors were considered for parts in the film?

One other actor slated to be in The Movie was Gale Sondergaard as the Wicked Witch, when the character was first envisioned as sophisticated and glamorous, like the Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. When it was decided to remake the Witch in a more traditional mode, tests were done to make Sondergaard look ugly, but she was just too beautiful to pull it off, and didn't want to play "ugly" anyway. Also, Ed Wynn and W. C. Fields were both approached to play the Wizard. Fields wanted more money than MGM was willing to pay, and he was soon busy making My Little Chickadee anyway, so he didn't take the part. There was even some early talk about Leo, MGM's trademark lion who roared at the start of every picture, playing the Cowardly Lion, with his dialogue dubbed in. How much did everyone earn on The Movie? Is it true Judy Garland received the lowest salary of all the cast members? To answer that second part first, sort of. Back in the old days of the Hollywood studio system, lead actors were usually paid weekly during the production of a picture, rather than a set amount per film and/or a portion of the box office as happens today.

Judy Garland's contract at the time stipulated that she would receive $500 per week, which was therefore her salary for The Movie. In comparison, Charley Grapewin and Clara Blandick were paid $750 per week, Billie Burke $766.67, Margaret Hamilton $1000, Buddy Ebsen (while he was working on The Movie) $1500, Bert Lahr and Frank Morgan $2500, and Ray Bolger and Jack Haley $3000. However, Terry and her trainer, Carl Spitz, were paid $125 per week, and the little people playing the Munchkins $100 each, half of which they had to give to their manager, Leo Singer. So while Garland's weekly salary was the lowest of the principal human cast, it wasn't the lowest of the entire film. There are two factors to consider, however, when calculating the actors' salaries. One is that many of the cast did not work every week, and thus did not get paid for the entire time of production.

For instance, because the Kansas scenes were filmed last, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em weren't even cast until well into the film's production; once cast, Grapewin and Blandick only worked one week. Garland, however, was there every week, as she was in nearly every scene. (Terry, too.) Also, as a result of her success in The Movie, Garland's original and standard MGM contract was thrown out, and a new contract with a much more lucrative salary structure was drawn up, so it had far-reaching benefits for her earning power. There's an amusing story about the salaries and guarantees of work on the film. Initially, MGM offered Bert Lahr a five week contract, but Lahr held out for six weeks. MGM countered with five, Lahr said six. This went back and forth for some time. Finally, MGM caved in and gave him six weeks. (An internal MGM memo still exists that gives credence to this story — "five" is crossed out and "six" typed in next to it.) Lahr ended up working on the film for nearly six months. How old was Judy Garland when she made The Movie? Judy was sixteen during the production of The Movie.

By the time it premiered, however, she had turned seventeen. How many parts did Frank Morgan play? In addition to Professor Marvel and the Wizard, Morgan also played the Guardian of the Gate ("Who rang that bell?"), the cabbie driving the Horse of a Different Color, and the palace guard ("I had an Aunt Em myself once!"). He was also the voice of the Wizard's fiery head, and is likely the heavily made-up actor who provides the head's onscreen appearance. (The filmed head took the place of a puppet that was originally tried out, but for whatever reason it just didn't work out.) Who was Ray Bolger's childhood hero? As a boy, Bolger caught a performance of Fred Stone in the play Jack O' Lantern in Boston, and from that time on he wanted to become a dancer like Stone — and he did. Perhaps Stone's most famous role — which Bolger probably never got to see — was the Scarecrow in the original 1902 stage version of The Wizard of Oz. The Good News radio show episode about The Movie, broadcast in June 1939, included Stone as a guest and a scripted meeting between Bolger and Stone.

How old was Billie Burke when she made The Movie? Older than you might think! The widow of show-biz impresario Flo Ziegfeld, she was fifty-five during production (she'd just turned fifty-six only days earlier when The Movie premiered.) Did Billie Burke do her own singing in The Movie? There is an old story that has been around for some time that another singer dubbed Billie Burke's singing in The Movie. While it is true that another singer came in and sang "Come Out, Come Out", the producers ultimately decided not to use it. What you hear in The Movie is Billie Burke's actual singing voice. Who is Nikko? For some reason, the character of Nikko is listed in the end credits, even though his character is never named in The Movie. Nikko is the chief of the Witch's winged monkeys, who is always hanging around while the Witch is checking things out in her crystal ball. He was played by Pat Walshe. Is it true that Aunt Em committed suicide? Sadly, yes. Actress Clara Blandick killed herself in 1962 by a combination of a sleeping pill overdose and putting a plastic bag over her head.

She was 80 at the time, going blind and suffering a great deal of pain from arthiritis. Whatever became of Toto? There are two conflicting reports. The more likely one, in my opinion, is that when Terry, a show business veteran who appeared in a number of films, died, she was buried in the backyard of her trainer, Carl Spitz. Later, Spitz's property was sold to the city of Los Angeles, and the Ventura Freeway was built over it, so Terry is now under either the roadway or an apartment complex. I have also been alerted, however, to a report in The Guinness Book of World Records that Toto's stuffed remains were auctioned off in 1996 for $3,680. I've further heard that Toto's stuffed remains were once on display at the Smithsonian Institute. I have not been able to confirm either version of this story. I've even heard that her cremated remains were buried under Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and that this story is told by guides during tours of the theater, but I have major doubts about this, since Radio City Music Hall was built in 1932, seven years before The Movie premiered.

How many "Munchkins" were there? In the book, Dorothy was greeted by only three Munchkins, but MGM decided to put in a few more than that! In total, 124 little people were hired to portray the Munchkins, although a small number of them didn't make it all the way through shooting, for many reasons. Since there was a much higher ratio of men to women in that group, about eight young girls were also hired to fill out the ranks of the Munchkins townswomen. They mostly stayed in the background. And a few of the actors, especially the women, played more than one part. Who played the Munchkin mayor and coroner? For some reason, these are the only two Munchkin parts that people ask about. The Mayor was played by Charley Becker, and the Coroner by Meinhardt Raabe. Did Billy Barty, Patty Maloney, or Zelda Rubinstein play a Munchkin in The Movie? No, none of these now well-known actors appeared in The Movie, as they were all too young. Barty came close, but was turned down when it was discovered that he was only thirteen.

Maloney and Rubinstein didn't even begin their acting careers until much later. All three appear in Under the Rainbow, however, a 1981 Chevy Chase comedy that was, in part, a highly fictionalized account of the Munchkins' arrival at MGM and the making of The Movie. Barty, in fact, had one of the lead roles, and it was Rubinstein's first film. I've heard of someone who claimed to have been one of the Munchkins. How can I check if they're telling the truth? There have been a few people in the last few years who claimed to have played Munchkins in The Movie, but didn't. Fortunately, it's not difficult to check. The list of actors who did play Munchkins is well known, and has been published in several books. Probably the best source is The Munchkins of Oz by Stephen Cox, published by Cumberland House in 1996 and updated in 2002. This book is about nothing but the Munchkin actors, both during production and afterwards, and includes profiles and biographies on most of them. Your local bookstore or library should be able to find this for you.

The list is also available in The Wizardry of Oz by Jay Scarfone and William Stillman, published in 1999 by Gramercy, with a revised edition published in 2004 from Applause. The only living Munchkin actors, as of January 2014, is Jerry Maren. Did Elizabeth Taylor play of the members of the Lullabye League? I have no idea where this one came from, but someone seems to have tried searching my site for the answer to this question once. No, the great Elizabeth Taylor would have been six when the Munchkin scenes were made, and none of the children hired to play background Munchkins were quite that young, nor were they used in such high profile roles in the foreground. The Lullabye League dancers were, from left to right, Nita Krebs, Olga Nardone, and Yvonne Moray. Elizabeth Taylor's first film credit would be in 1942, three years after the premier of The Wizard of Oz. Is it true that the Munchkins were all drunkards? No, of course not.

True, Judy Garland joked about this with Jack Paar once on television, but that was Judy's sense of humor. There were 124 little people who played the Munchkins, and while many of them were show business veterans, others had never acted before. Many were still teenagers, away from home for the first time. They were so busy making The Movie that they really didn't have much time or energy for partying, although apparently a few of the older men did try at one point or another. One even hit on Judy Garland. The movie Under the Rainbow is based on this legend, but it is not a docudrama, and certainly not a documentary! Was a community built for the Munchkins in La Jolla, California? From what I hear, there is a housing complex of some sort built for little people in La Jolla, a seaside community outside of San Diego, near Soledad Road and Mt. Soledad. But while some of the actors who played the Munchkins may have lived there at one time or another, I would be very surprised if the houses were built specifically for them.

La Jolla is too far away from Los Angeles to be handy during filming, and the majority of the actors stayed in hotels in Culver City, near the MGM studios. After the Munchkin scenes were finished, there would have been no need for such a complex, as the actors all had homes elsewhere to return to. Also, from what I gather, these homes were built in the 1940s or '50s, long after production ended on The Movie. For more information (but not always clarification), see this 2012 report from a San Diego television station. How can I contact the Munchkins? Only one Munchkin is still alive, Jerry Maren. He can be contacted through his agents, Ralph Zellem and Steve Wallach, at ozagent@aol.com. What other films have the actors in The Movie been in? This is a little outside the scope of this FAQ, and the answer would probably double its length. So I won't answer that here, but I will point out that the Internet Movie Data Base ( ) can tell you nearly everything an actor or crew member has worked on.

You can start at the IMDB's page for The Movie at , or The Movie's complete list of credits at . Click on any name, and it will give you a filmography.

Question: Who played the 'Scarecrow' in the Judy Garland film, 'The Wizard Of Oz'?
Answer: RAY BOLGER